Youngsters hop onboard bus to meet Mr Claus
SANTA swapped his sleigh for a Stagecoach bus to raise money for equipment that will help disabled children and babies.
A Stagecoach bus was transformed into a pop-up Santa’s Grotto outside Tesco in Kingston Park on Friday, in aid of fundraising for the Chronicle’s Sunshine Fund charity.
The Sunshine Fund is a North East based charity that supports disabled children by supplying them with specialist equipment not available on the NHS to allow them to live as normal a life as possible.
Equipment can range from sensory toy bundles for babies to specially adapted equipment such as beds or sleep systems, specialist wheelchairs and trikes.
The grotto was open free of charge to Tesco customers throughout the day, but reserved during a specific time for children at Cleaswell Hill Primary School in Choppington, which is a school for pupils with a range of complex learning difficulties and disabilities. The festive bus was designed to be accessible to children of all abilities.
Pupils were able to climb aboard the decorated bus and meet Santa himself, have a chat and get a photo with the big man.
Tesco provided the charity with free sweets for Santa to hand out to children too, and a choir made up of volunteers from Sage Accountancy sang festive songs throughout the day.
Teacher at Cleaswell Hill, Jamie Wheadon, said the event was the first time the children had been brought out for a meet-and-greet with Santa.
“The school have previously done a lot of work with Tesco, they’ve been very helpful at fundraising for us. We’re picking up selection boxes from them today to give to the children.
“What’s nice about this event from the Sunshine Fund is that it helps keep the children within their comfort zones while also giving them the opportunity to try something new.
“They’re at school, so they know they are safe and they know they have familiar staff present. They are safely segregated from everybody and crowds of people so it’s nice and relaxed for them.
“For a lot of these children, especially the ones with autism, they don’t like going to big shopping centres with lots of people, or wait in a queue for a long time. They still enjoy Christmas, and they still enjoy doing fun things, but they don’t always have the opportunity to do events in a relaxed way, so that they can enjoy it without any stress.”
Also on hand to entertain the children were volunteers from North East children’s charity True Colours Theatre Shannon Charters and charity CEO Alisar Hassanyeh who performed Christmas songs in Makaton sign language for the children outside Tesco.